Thursday, November 19, 2009

Rise of the Gargoyles

Released: 2009
Reviewed: 11.15.09
Star rating: 3 out of 5

Eric Balfour (Jack), Tanya Clarke (Carol), Nick Mancuso (Father Gable), Caroline Neron (Nicole), Justin Salinger (Walsh), Ifan Huw Dafydd (Gibert).

Carol takes Jack, a professor and gargoyle fan, to explore a condemned Parisian church built upon a church. As they marvel at the wonderful gargoyle artistry and explore they find the nesting place of a real gargoyle. And when Carol sneaks out a few gargoyle eggs the result is one unhappy flying monster that wants her eggs back!

Being a big fan of gargoyles myself I was excited when I stumbled across this one but because of others I've seen, I didn't expect much. Fortunately this wasn't a half-bad horror flick. The film starts off pretty well with some minor character development before Jack and Carol run across the mommy gargoyle. After that the pace was pretty much blood and gore, minor plot advancement, brief dramatic interlude, repeat, repeat, repeat. Though the pace got a bit mundane the film was still enjoyable with some nice gargoyle CGI and some good gore moments with entrails and flying heads.

Acting was a mixed bag with Balfour and Mancuso overacting at times. It didn't help that to me Balfour looked like a comic book super-hero. Neron was awful and apparently cast for one reason only, her low-cut t-shirts. Salinger wasn't bad and looks like he has potential.

Effects were mixed, with some really lame gore shots in parts but some nice gargoyle CGI at times. I wish they would have shown more of the gargoyle. Camera work, sets and backgrounds were nice as was sound. Dialogue was okay while the soundtrack was completely forgettable.

Overall this wasn't a bad supernatural horror flick that could have been a lot more with better casting. If you are a gargoyle fan or horror die-hard check it out. No nudity, no sex, minor foul language, blood, gore, and decapitations so depending on the tolerance for gore this should be fine for teens and above.
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